Business Vulnerability And Disruption: Data From The 1993 Midwest Floods
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Date
1993
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Publisher
Disaster Research Center
Abstract
Understanding business vulnerability to disasters is important for
loss estimation, hazard mitigation, disaster preparedness, and
recovery planning. However, only a very small number of studies
have focused systematically on that topic. This paper presents
preliminary findings from a study of a random sample of 1079
businesses in Des Moines/Polk County, Iowa, a community that
experienced extensive damage and disruption as a result of the
Midwest floods of 1993. The study focused on a range of topics,
including business dependence on lifeline services, the physical
flood damage businesses experienced, lifeline service disruption,
and the impacts that disruption had on businesses. This paper
reports findings on the importance of different lifeline services
for businesses in different economic sectors and on flood-related
lifeline service interruptions and their impact on business
operations.
Description
Keywords
Loss Estimation, Hazard Mitigation, Disaster Preparedness, Recovery Planning